Locking mechanism for vehicle end gates



May 8, 19 w. H. EDMONDS ET AL LOCKING MECHANISM FOR VEHICLE END GATESFiled Aug. 28, 1945 C! -EAVE 1 EDMONDs INVEN TORS- Patented May 8, 1951LOCKING MECHANISM FOR VEHICLE END GATES- William H. Edmonds, Goodlett,and Cleave F. Edmonds, Quanah, Tex.

Application August 28, 1945, Serial No. 613,126

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in looking mechanism for vehicleend gates and particularly to slide bolt locking mechanisms that may belocked in open position as well as locked in closed position.

Various types of slide bolts for end gates have been used heretofore butthese, for the most part have been inadequate in many respects,complicated and expensive to manufacture and difiicult to install and tooperate.

In unloading bulk material from a vehicle and particularly from a dumptruck, much difficulty is frequently encountered and time consumed inremoving and replacing end gates, or to keep them from dropping backinto locked position after they have been opened.

The present invention provides for a simple and easy way of securing avehicle end gate in place and for holding the locking mechanism inlocked or unlocked position as desired. This looking mechanism makes itpossible to have an end gate that fits tightly enough to provide anadequate closure for the truck body, but which, at the same time, may bereadily released from its locked position and the locking mechanismsecured in unlocked position as long as desired.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a locking mechanismfor vehicle end gates that is simple in construction, positive inoperation, inexpensive to manufacture and install and that is easy tooperate.

Another object of this invention is to provide a locking mechanism forvehicle end gates that will lock the end gate in place to close the endof a dump truck but which may be readily released for emptying thetruck, and the mechanism held in unlocked position until it is againdesired to close and lock the end gate in place.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the rear portion of a vehicle with theinvention installed thereon; and with an alternate position of theoperating lever shown in dashed outline;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a fragmentary end portion ofone of the slide bolts re moved from the locking mechanism; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the pivot plate.

With more detailed reference to the drawing the numeral I generallydesignates the body of a vehicle which is mounted in the usual mannerupon wheels 2. The truck body I has an end gate 3 positioned between theupstanding sides 4 thereof, which end gate rests on the bottom 5 toformla tight closure for the end of the body or box While the truck bodyI is shown to be made of wood for purposes of illustration, it is to beunderstood that any suitable material may be used that is adaptable totruck body construction, such as reinforced sheet metal.

The end gate 3 is pivotally mounted in place on a rod 6. The rod 6 isreceived by supports 1 secured to the upper end portion of the sides Iby screw bolts 8 and bearings 9, similarly secured to the end gate 3 andin alignment with said supports I. The rod 6 is threaded at either endto receive nuts 6"which removably secure rod 6 in place. If it isdesired to remove the end gate entirely, the nuts 6' are removed and therod 6 slipped from the supports I and bearings 9, thus the entire endgate With the locking mechanism thereon may be readily removed from thetruck.

A plate I 0 is secured to the end gate 3 near the center and toward thebottom thereof and has a pivot pin II mounted thereon. The pivot pin IIpivotally supports a lever I2.

An arcuate side I3 of the plate It has notches I4 and I 5 disposedtherein and which notches receive and hold the lever I2 in selectedposition. A slide bolt I6 is connected to the lever I2 at apredetermined distance above the pivot pin I I in plate II], theopposite end of which slide bolt passes through a hole I8 in a guidebracket I'l positioned at the lower outside edge of the end gate 3 andis received in a hole 20 of a locking bracket I 9 secured to the lowerend portion of the side member 4 of the truck body I. The lookingbracket I9 is so positioned as to be adjacent the guide bracket IT. Asimilar slide bolt I6 is secured to the lever I2 at a predetermineddistance below the pivot pin II of plate II! and is oppositely disposedwith respect to slide bolt I6. The opposite end of the slide bolt I6passes through hole I8 of guide bracket I1 and is received by hole 20 oflocking bracket I9. The guide bracket I1 and locking bracket I9 aredisposed opposite the guide bracket I1 and locking bracket I9.

Upon movement of the lever I2 a sliding action will be imparted to theslide bolts I6I6. The lever I2 has an extension 2| projecting downwardlytherefrom in position to engage a lug 22 secured to the bottom 5 of thetruck body I.

The lever I2 has a slidable pawl 23, which pawl is operable by hand griplever 24 adapted to selectively engage in notch I 4 or I5 to hold theslide bolts I6I6 either in retracted or extended position, and at thesame time hold extension 2| of lever I2 in engagement or out ofengagement with the lug 22. The slide bolts I6I6' are at all times inguided relation in brackets I1 and I1.

In unloading bulk material from a vehicle and more particularly whenunloading bulk material from a dump type vehicle it is desirable to haveand the present invention provides a tight fitting end gate withpositive locking means engaging at either side and at the bottom When inclosed position. Thus the end gate is securely held in locked positionand readily released when desired. The locking means should be heldunlocked until released, to prevent the accidental swinging back inplace and locking of the end ate.

In the operation of this end gate locking mechanism, when the lever I2is in the position as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the slide boltsl6|6' secured to the lever 12 above and below the pivot pin H in plateIn, are in extended position. They pass through holes l8l8 in guidebrackets 17-11 and project through holes 20-20 in locking bracketsl9-I9. At the same time the lever extension 2| swings inside of lug 22,which lug 22 is bent outwardly to urge lever projection 2| toward theinside of the body I while the mechanism is closing. The slide bolts[6-16 are tapered at their outer ends to guide said rods into holes20-40, even though the rods |6|6' are not in exact register with saidholes.

With the lever I2 in upright position, as shown in full outline in Fig.1, and with the slide bolts Iii-l8 extended, and with lever extension 2|interengaged with lug 22, the end gate 3 is locked in place. The pawl 23of the hand grip lever 24 engages notch [4 to hold the locking elementsin locked position.

When it is desired to release the locking elements [6, l6 and 2!, thelever I2 is swung to the position as indicated in dashed outline in Fig.1 and the pawl 23 engages the notch I in the arcuate side l3 of platel0. This action withdraws the slide bolts i0--|6 from the holes 20 and20' and swings extension 2| out of engagement with lug 22, so that theend gate 3 may swing pivotally outward on transverse rod 6, that allowsthe material to pass from the body I.

This locking arrangement provides a strong positive lock for the endgate 3 when in closed position, but which may be readily released togive a quick opening full throat gate.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

In a locking mechanism for locking a pivotally mounted end gate to avehicle body having a bottom, an outstanding lug adapted to be mountedon said bottom, and upstanding sides having apertured lugs thereon, aplate mounted on said end gate and having an upstanding pivot pinmounted thereon at substantially right angles thereto said plate havingone side arcuate with respect to said upstanding pivot pin, said arcuatesurface being concentric with respect to said pivot pin and havingnotches therein to receive a pawl, a hand lever pivotally mounted onsaid upstanding pin and having a pawl adapted to engage said notches insaid plate, an end of said lever protruding downward for engagement withthe outstanding lug adapted to be mounted on said bottom or" saidvehicle body, transverse bars positioned respectively above and belowsaid upstanding pivot pin which bars extend substantially parallel withthe rear face of said end gate, said pivoted end gate having lugs withapertures therein mounted near an edge thereof and said apertures beingaligned with apertures of the lugs on said upstanding sides in a certainposition of said gate to permit said transverse bars to slide into theother upstanding, apertured lugs on said sides and also to disengagesaid lugs to permit free swinging action of said pivoted end gate, saidpawl being adapted to lock said lever so said transverse bars and thelower projecting portion of said lever will either be in engaged ordisengaged position and said transverse bars having conical points forguiding the transverse bars into said lugs on said sides of said vehiclebody.

WILLIAM H. EDMONDS.

CLEAVE F. EDMONDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 215,430 Beecher May 20, 1879509,941 Perry Dec. 5, 1893 1,258,234 McKee Mar. 5, 1913 1,655,489Anderson Jan. 10, 1928 1,974,973 Paul Sept. 25, 1934

